Trying to develop a painterly style...

11/05/2006 04:53:55 PM · #1

A good friend of mine had a baby 6 weeks ago. I offered to take a picture of her that she can show next week when her family comes by for a visit. Since I offered, I'm doing this for free. But I want to do a good job and I want to learn some new techniques along the way. I've been wanting to learn Corel Painter for a long time, so here it goes... my first attempt, tell me what you think:

Going from this:

to this:

NOTE: I've added a canvas texture here, but only because I plan to have the picture printed as an 11x14 gallery wrap canvas print. So the real texture will be in the canvas itself, not in the image that I go to print.

11/05/2006 04:55:55 PM · #2

to be honest I like the original photo better. pure.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

11/05/2006 04:55:55 PM · #3

oops, double post

Message edited by author 2006-11-05 16:56:42.

justine

Canon EOS-50D

11/05/2006 04:57:51 PM · #4

I'll agree with

biteme 'twice'. :)
It's too heavy for a delicate shot like this and the white dots seem distracting..but then I'm lookn' hard too.

Jaded_Housewife

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

11/05/2006 04:58:57 PM · #5

I agree. The original is better to me too. In the second one the effect seems to steal the focus away from the family which is the important part. hope that helps.

11/05/2006 04:59:32 PM · #6

That's okay, it's good feedback. That was my first attempt, so I'll keep trying. :-)

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

11/05/2006 05:00:57 PM · #7

sorry, my english is getting better, but expressing my feelings or technical things in english is still pretty darn hard ;)

peecee

Canon EOS-5D

11/05/2006 05:07:35 PM · #8

I like the effect but it is just a tad too strong, maybe fading it on a seperate layer ?
Great pic though.

Paul.

fotomann_forever

11/05/2006 05:07:47 PM · #9

Originally posted by jaded_youth:

I agree. The original is better to me too. In the second one the effect seems to steal the focus away from the family which is the important part. hope that helps.

I agree and it might work if ya scale the opacity of the texture back some.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/05/2006 05:08:49 PM · #10

plus, I feel like you lose the baby's expression.

11/05/2006 05:35:06 PM · #11

Okay, here's another one... a little softer this time and without the canvas texture.

Again, going from this:

to this:

fotomann_forever

11/05/2006 05:38:02 PM · #12

It works MUCH better without the texture.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

11/05/2006 05:39:10 PM · #13

first of all, I'm in love with original, so nothing you do will please me.

now that I've stated my bias, I can proceed: because the baby is not smiling, when you soften his/her face, s/he looks blank. It's only with sharp detail that we can see the facial muscles at work, hinting at his/her emotions.

11/05/2006 05:45:56 PM · #14

Good points... okay, so how about if I take the image back into photo shop and use a layer mask to bring back some of the details?

Again, going from this:

to this:

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

11/05/2006 05:47:39 PM · #15

now this looks better. but I still prefer the original.. maybe mask the parents faces too to bring back details there too?

GinaRothfels

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

11/05/2006 05:49:21 PM · #16

Definitely getting better. I'm not sure I wouldn't still like the baby to be a bit less soft. But the background is really nice.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

11/05/2006 05:53:54 PM · #17

Oops, just realized the baby has no nose... so brought back the nose with the layer masking. Also a little more of the parents.

Again, going from this:

to this:

GinaRothfels

Olympus 8mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED Fisheye PRO Lens

11/05/2006 06:42:40 PM · #18

Much better.

bood

Canon EOS-5D